THERE will be a deciding Game 7 in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup, after all.

Badly beaten by 20 points in the previous game and finding themselves on the verge of elimination, the Beermen lived to fight another day by pulling off in impressive 103-90 victory over Talk N Text to force a winner-take-all at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.

Mo Tautuaa came off the bench and finished with a game-high 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting in almost 30 minutes for the Beermen, who levelled their best-of-seven semifinal series at 3-3.

Marcio Lassiter finished with 19 points, including 14 in the first half, five rebounds and three assists, while Terrence Romeo added 16 points and six assists
Arwind Santos and PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo also came through with double-digit scores with 13 and 11 points, respectively, as the Beermen avenged their 90-110 loss to the Tropang Giga last Wednesday.

Fajardo also had 14 rebounds while Santos had 10.

Ryan Reyes led the Tropang Giga with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists, while Jayson Castro also had 16 points.

Poy Erram was limited to 11 points and four rebounds while Kelly Williams managed only five points on 2-of-12 shooting.

The Beermen established a 53-38 halftime lead.

An 8-0 run by Santos and Lassiter at the start of the second half enabled the Beermen to pull further away.

San Miguel led by as many as 26 points before Talk N Text rallied to come to within 10 points inside the last two minutes.

CJ Perez added eight points, including a highlight play — a jam off an alley-oop pass from Romeo.

The winner of the Talk N Text-San Miguel will meet Magnolia Pambansang Manok in the finals.

Magnolia finished off Meralco, 93-85, to wrap up their own best-of-seven series, 4-2.

Ian Sangalang finished with game-highs of 19 points and 14 rebounds to power tge Hotshots to victory over the Bolts.

The scores:

First game
San Miguel (103) – – Tautuaa 24, Lassiter 19, Romeo 16, Santos 13, Fajardo 11, Cabagnot 9, Perez 8, Ross 3, Gamalinda 0.
Talk NText (90) — Castro 16, Reyes 16, Erram 11, Rosario 10, M.Williams 9, Heruela 9, Pogoy 6, Montalbo 6, K. Williams 5, Khobuntin 2, Exciminiano 0, Marcelo 0, Alejandro 0.
Quarterscores: 27-21, 53-38, 86-62 103-90.

Second game
Magnolia (93) — Sangalang 19, Barroca 16, Dela Rosa 16, Jalalon 11, Abueva 11, Melton 6, Reavis 6, Corpuz 4, Lee 4, Brill 0, Ahanmisi 0, De Leon 0, Capobres 0, Pascual 0, Dionisio 0.
Meralco (85)- Almazan 16, Newsome 14, Maliksi 13, Pinto 10, Hodge 9, Caram 7, Quinto 7, Hugnatan 6, Belo 3, Black 0, Jackson 0, Jose 0, Pasaol 0, Baclao 0, Jamito 0.
Quarterscores: 20-27, 44-40, 72-68, 93-85.

The results:

No. 1 Talk N Text vs. No. 4 San Miguel Beer.

Game 1 –Talk N Text 89, San Miguel 88.
Game 2 — San Miguel 98, Talk N Text 96.
Game 3 — Talk N Text 115, San Miguel 98
Game 4 — San Miguel116, Talk N Text 90.
Game 5 — Talk N Text 110, San Miguel 90.
Game 6 — San Miguel 103, Talk N Text 90.
(Series tied, 3-3).

No. 2 Meralco vs. No. 3 Magnolia.

Game 1 — Magnolia 88, Meralco 79.
Game 2 — Magnolia 92, Meralco 78.
Game 3 — Meralco 91, Magnolia 86.
Game 4 — Magnolia 81, Meralco 69.
Game 5 — Meralco 102, Magnolia 98.
Game 6 — Magnolia 93, Meralco 85.
(Magnolia wins series, 4-2).

Game Sunday:

(DHVSU gym, Bacolor)
4:35 p.m. — Talk N Text vs. San Miguel